Turpentine-gathering gutter.



J. M. TOWNS.

TURPENTINB GATHERING GUTTER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1911.

1,011,279. 4 Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

ull

JEREMIAH M. TOWNS, OF TOWNS, GEORGIA.

TURPENTINE-GATHERING GUTTER.

miners.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 29, 1911.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Serial No. 646,708.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEREMIAH M. Towns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Towns, in the county of Telfair and State of Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Turpentine-GatheringGutters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to turpentine gutters, such as are generallyemployed in the gathering of turpentine.

It has for its object to provide such a gutter which will be of such aconstruction that the bottom of the gutter where the two side wings meetwill incline downwardly from the rear to the front of the gutter thusforming a forwardly and downwardly inclined V-shaped trough so that theturpentine flowing from the hacks made in the tree will be received bythe side wings of the gutter and directed to the bottom of the troughand thence directed by the clownwardly inclined bottom into the cup orre ceptacle that will be provided beneath for its reception. Theadvantage of the construction embodying my invention is that the guttermay be made from a single blank of oblong shape bent transversely toform diverging wings and then folded at its transversely bent portion soas to form a bottom to the gutter which will incline downwardly from itsrear to its front. This enables the wings of the gutter to be readilyexpanded or contracted as desired or necessary to con form to thediameter of the tree to which it is applied, the rear edges of the wingsbeing inserted in the hacks cut in the tree so that the turpentineflowing from the tree above the gutter will be received by the gutterand directed into the cup or other receptacle below, and whateverturpentine may flow from the hack in line with the underside of thegutter will be received on the under surface of the wings and by themdirected to the centrally and downwardly inclined bottom of the gutter,the inclination of which will tend to direct the turpentine likewiseinto the cup beneath. This serves to prevent waste of turpentine whichotherwise might find its escape down the trunk of the tree at the rearof the gutter.

The construction specified also effects a very material saving in thecost of production of the gutters, and makes it possible to employunskilled labor in their manufacture.

In the accompanying drawing which form a part hereof, Figure 1represents a front elevation portion of the tree with one of the guttersapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective of the gutter, with its Wingsspread apart; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank from which the gutter ismade; and Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the gutter on the line4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing the numeral 1 designates a blank, preferably of sheetmetal, such as tin, although other material may be employed, and whichis oblong in shape. This blank is bent or folded transversely betweenits ends on the line 2, which forms a V- shaped gutter member with itsbottom substantially horizontal with the plane of the side wings of thegutter. The metal at the point of union of the two wings 3 thus formed,is then folded obliquely upon itself as indicated at 4 in Fig. 2 of thedrawing so as to form an inclined bottom extending downwardly from therear toward the front of the gutter as clearly shown in the Figs. 1 and2 of the drawing. This oblique fold besides forming the downwardlyinclined bottom to the gutter also stiffens or braces the gutter at itsbottom. The gutter thus formed is attached to the tree by inserting therear edges of the side wings of the gutter into the hacks formed in theusual way in the body of the tree, so that the turpentine flowing fromthe tree will flow directly from the hacks on to the side wings of thegutter and by them be directed to the inclined bottom of the gutter, theinclination of which will direct the turpentine freely into the cup thatmay be suspended below. The side wings of the gutter are flexible abovethe point where the fold is made at the bottom so that they can bereadily expanded to the extent desired to accommodate the gutter to thediameter of the tree to which it may be affixed.

The construction described is simple, requiring the minimum amount ofmaterial and time and labor for its formation and making it possible toemploy unskilled labor in its production, besides possessing theadvantages hereinbef ore set forth in the use'of the'gutter. It alsomakes it possible to pack a large number of the gutters in acomparatively small space during transportation as the side Wings of thegutters may be spread or folded into a flat position for packing ortransportation purposes.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits what I claim is:

The turpentine gathering gutter formed of an oblong strip foldedtransversely between its ends and provided at such told with an obliquefold to form an inclined bottom at the point of divergence of the sidewings, said bottom inclining downwardly from the rear to the front ofthe gutter, and the side wings adapted to be spread apart to accommodatethe dimensions of the tree to which the gutter is applied, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JEREMIAH M. TOl/VNS. Witnesses C. T. COWART, RUTH TOWNS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

